Youth learn trades in B.C.
Chaperon Beverley Bagnall-Hope tries to make each experience one of learning
Joseph Tunney
Northern News Services
Thursday, July 14, 2016
VANCOUVER ISLAND
A wellness worker hopes the trip to British Columbia she's on with youth from across the Deh Cho will give the young people confidence and an appreciation for the trades.
Shannel Landry, left, and Bobbi Lynn Gargan are showing off mini paddles from a carpentry session while on a trip to Vancouver Island this month. - photo courtesy of Gloria Buboire
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"There is a high population of people with mental health issues down here and our youth seeing that are kind of curious and get a little worried sometimes," Beverley Bagnall-Hope said.
Until July 21, Bagnall-Hope, who works for Deh Gah Elementary and Secondary School, is at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, B.C., along with 16 youth to discover what trade each of the children might be interested in.
She said the age range of the children is between 15 and 19, with seven from Fort Simpson, one from Jean Marie River and the rest of from Fort Providence.
She said the trip came together mainly because of the hard work of Lois Philipp, the principal of Deh Gah, who has the connections and desire for alternative learning.
Some of the trades the children have been exposed to are: heavy mechanical, electrical technology, welding, automotive, small motors repair and culinary arts.
"I didn't know I liked carpentry but then I tried it," said Shannel Landry, one of the young people on the trip from Fort Providence.
While much of the knowledge the children have been exposed to is practical, such as what living on a campus is like or how to travel on the bus system, Bagnall-Hope said she tries to make every experience one of learning.
Even when the children experienced racist slurs thrown at them on the streets.
"I'm trying to teach these guys they need to carry themselves with confidence and assurance," she said. "It's not about them, that they don't need to own other people's behaviours."
For Bagnall-Hope, awareness of these issues and to see them face-to-face is invaluable.
She is trying to focus on reliability and positive attitudes as essential skills to learn while on the trip.
And as for why she went on this trip with these young people, for her, the answer is simple.
"I am passionate about these kids."
